The High-Level Conference on the Rule of Law in Europe will be held in the Convent of São Francisco in Coimbra on 17 and 18 May.

 

Organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the European Commission, all aspects of the rule of law in Europe will be discussed at the event.

 

Bringing together a wide range of European institutions, politicians, academics and specialists, also taking part in the conference will be the Portuguese Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, the Portuguese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, and the Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, as well as the Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office, Michael Roth, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Gašper Dovžan, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, and the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders.

 

The programme will be divided up into six panels, discussing topics such as the involvement of civil society in the promotion of the rule of law, the role of national and European courts in defending the rule of law, communicating the rule of law, the rule of law in the framework of the Treaty of Lisbon, its context in the COVID-19 pandemic and the links between the rule of law, social progress and economic recovery.

 

Further information about the conference is available on the website of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU.